Back on the trails

 Autumn is slowly bringing a bit lower temperatures. Sunday morning had a low of 68f so I knew I could handle getting back out on the trails. The humidity was very high, but I would be hiking the woodland trail at Mother Neff State Park so I had high hoped that it would be pleasant. I grabbed King - my son's dog that has been staying with me for the past six months and off we went. I wanted to get out with him as he will soon be joining my son in Corpus Christi as he located an apartment that doesn't have bred restrictions. 

I decided to try a new route in the wooded area of the park. I had never hiked the Bluff Loop so I worked it into my planned path. I did a few sections that I knew had some inclines and steps (nothing hard or steep in this part of Texas) anything I can add to make this hike a bit more challenging I will do it. The bluff loop is a bit less maintained and more primitive than  the other trails. I'm thinking it doesn't get as much use. The park was mostly deserted yesterday morning when we went so I didn't meet anyone on the trail until I was on the way back to the parking lot. I really did like this trail as it added some scrambling over a few rocks and steps. I did like that it felt more isolated. King is great to hike with as he takes the lead and sticks to the trail. He has learned to pace himself to match my speed when going down steps. This was great yesterday as the trails were damp from a heavy rain on Saturday. It's a shame that as soon as I get him trained to hike well with me he will be leaving. I will now have to train my little mutt girls to hike. That should be fun with their short legs and delicate paws. 

We hiked for right at an hour, and probably did somewhere around 2 miles I think. I would have stayed out longer but it was starting to warm up and with that humidity I was starting to get uncomfortable. Allergies were also getting bad as ragweed has started its season and I am very allergic to it. I have been congested ever since the hike yesterday. 

It was great to be out again, I hope that maybe we can return next Sunday, but the forecast doesn't look promising. I've two more weekends with King here before he joins my son down at the coast in October. 

I'm getting back into my morning workouts. Yoga and Wim Hoff are back up to pre-vacation levels, the stair stepper is still below where I was. I'm not going to push it as I discovered the time and distance on it does improve in spurts. I prefer to get strong at one level before increasing the steps to make a push to the next level. I am optimistic I will soon be back up where I was and then well on my way to my goal. 

Come on Autumn weather - I want to get outside and on the trails!